LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions Opens a New Centre of Excellence in Leeds

2 November 2015

LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions, a provider of technology solutions to law firms and other professional services firms, has invested in a new Software Centre of Excellence in Leeds, UK.

This new R&D facility will be the UK hub of product development for LexisOne, the company’s enterprise resource planning solution for law firms; and Lexis Visualfiles, its leading legal workflow and case management system.

To help drive the company’s IT strategy and oversee the Centre of Excellence, David Espley has joined LexisNexis as the UK Technology Director.

The Centre of Excellence has been established following consistent revenue growth over the last couple of years; and is part of the company’s ongoing investment across its product portfolio to continuously deliver against customer requirements.

To support the product development programme, LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions is significantly expanding headcount across many business areas.

The Centre of Excellence will accommodate the 50 percent growth in staff this year, serve as the company’s European customer support hub and still have capacity for future growth.

Through this initiative, LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions is emulating the success enjoyed by the LexisNexis US development centre located on campus at the NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, from where product development of Lexis InterAction, the leading customer relationship management solution for professional services firms, is managed.

“This new Leeds facility is a key strategic investment, designed to help us achieve our ambitious business growth targets. We have a clear vision for the development of our integrated product portfolio, and this is an important step in our ongoing evolution,” elaborated Andy Sparkes, general manager at LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions.

“This new facility will serve as the hub for our product management capability, and house our customer support and R&D functions, thus enabling us to continue to evolve LexisOne and Visualfiles in line with client requirements.

“With David overseeing the technological development of our products, customers will continue to benefit from the additional investment that we have been making across our solutions.”

Espley has vast experience in leading large, agile, cloud-based development teams that have designed and delivered enterprise scale solutions to customers in the banking, legal and media sectors.

He has spent the last decade building systems that are efficient, scalable and ready for big data analysis – this experience makes him a great fit for the organisation.

Most recently, Espley served as Chief Technology Officer at Advanced Legal, a subsidiary of Advanced Computer Software Group. Prior to that, he held positions including Head of Technology Consulting at EMC Consulting and Chief Technology Officer at Progressive Media Group.

“I’m looking forward to working with the LexisOne and Visualfiles product development teams, to help drive the next stage in the evolution of these products,” commented David Espley, UK technology director at LexisNexis UK.

“The teams have already done a phenomenal job with these solutions. In a short space of time, LexisOne has gathered huge market momentum with many high profile law firms adopting the solution.

“Similarly, this year has seen Visualfiles fortify its position with some impressive product enhancements. We will now build on these achievements and the new Centre of Excellence gives us the foundation to do that.”

Associate News is provided by Legal Futures Associates. Find out about becoming an Associate

Legal Futures Blog

Last month, MPs on the justice select committee asked minister Lord Keen what would happen when the government went ahead with its plan to raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims (from £1,000 to £5,000 for road traffic related claims and to £2,000 for everything else). As it is a jurisdiction in which lawyers do not generally operate – because legal costs are not recoverable – who might help claimants navigate what can still be a complex process? His answer, surprisingly, was claims management companies.